Political and Legislative
President Biden Declines Democrats’ Call to Cancel $50K in Student Debt
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he would not eliminate $50,000 in student debt, shooting down a proposal that prominent Democrats introduced this month, but that he is open to some level of loan forgiveness.
“I will not make that happen,” Biden said at a CNN town hall in Milwaukee, his first event outside Washington since he took office, in response to an audience member who called on him to commit to canceling at least $50,000 in debt.
Biden, listing off the six-figure debts he said his children incurred attending private universities, said that he understood the burden of the student loan crisis but that he did not believe he could eliminate $50,000 on his own without congressional action.
“My point is: I understand the impact of debt, and it can be debilitating,” Biden said. “I am prepared to write off the $10,000 debt but not $50 [thousand], because I don’t think I have the authority to do it.”
